Spring Pea, Leek and White Bean Soup

Spring is finally here! Yes, I know that we never really had a winter, but I still get excited when I see the first buds on the trees appear and the first daffodils start to tentatively bloom even if I never had to chip ice of my car.

I have been on a soup kick recently and the appearance of fresh peas delicately green peas in the grocery store gave me a flash of inspiration. Pea and leek soup is a classic spring combination, one that I come back to each year around this time. For this version I wanted to make this light soup into a proper meal so I gave it more body by adding white beans and caramelized onion, and made it sing with a generous portion of lemon zest and tons of herbs added at the last minute. This simple and elegant bowl of soup was topped with grated Parmesan more herbs and served with a thick slice of bread for the best spring kickoff meal imaginable.

Curried Brown Butter Heaven

This is a quick post about my new condiment obsession: curried brown butter. There are two ingredients and I will only give you one guess. Making curried brown butter is fast and simple and it will change the way you dress all of your food. I have taken to drizzling a little over soup, tossing warm potatoes or veggies in it. I have even spread some on my grilled cheese sandwich. The last one was a bit unnecessary but boy was it tasty!

Roasted Butternut Squash and Arugula Salad

This recipe is adapted from one of the Barefoot Contessa's recipes which I happened to see on her show on the Food Network several years ago. Over time I have added a few tweaks to it, but all the credit goes to Ina Garten.


The combination of roasted butternut squash, peppery arugula and tart-sweet cider dressing makes a wonderful winter salad that is relatively simple but exploding with flavor. When Jamie came over a little while ago for dinner, I served this salad alongside the mac and cheese recipe from the previous post. I normally use goat cheese, which is what you will see in this recipe, but the other night I used blue cheese instead and the flavor combination was a real winner.

mmm... mac and cheese

Please forgive the slightly blurry camera phone shot. My camera wasn't working and Jamie was kind enough to take a few shots for me.

I am a carb slut, it is true. I have a deep fondness for breads and pastas and I've never met a potato I didn't like. My waistline and my genetic predisposition for diabetes don't appreciate it, but often I find myself with fiendish cravings for starchy dishes. I also adore dairy products. Cheese, in all its delicious varieties, is probably one of the single greatest accomplishments of human civilization. Forget penicillin, I vote for cheese. Given my penchant for cheesy, carby goodness, I was none too surprised when last Sunday I woke up with a huge hankering for mac and cheese.

Urban Farming, Soba Noodles, Butternut Squash and Kale

 The Thanksgiving holiday is coming to a close and whether it's a meteorological phenomenon or purely a psychological one, the air already feels chillier. After several days of cold rainy weather, here in DC, the long Thanksgiving weekend burst forth in sunshine and miraculously warm days. After stuffing myself silly on turkey and all the trimmings on Thursday and then repeating with turkey leftovers on Friday and Saturday, I decided on Sunday that I should actually cook something. But first, I needed to get outdoors and enjoy the last of the beautiful weather.